Teachers being racist? Noo that could never happen!

Blackboard Jungle is the first movie we have watched that I have never seen before or heard of for that matter. I'm still not really sure of what I think of it, except that Sidney Poitier had yet another excellent performance. I think I would have enjoyed the film a whole lot more if I wasn't getting so damn distracted by the mere fact that Anne Francis looks identical to Juliette Lewis.
I think what bothered me about this movie was that at some points it tried to showcase Richard Dadier as a good teacher. I am a education major hoping to some day teach in inner city schools, and Dadier would be considered an example of how NOT to teach. The moment that Dadier stepped into the school not one kid, whether they were white or black, had any respect for him. When he approached Poitier's character and labeled him as the trouble maker in his mind, I distinctly found it racist. Although at certain parts in the film it tried to make Dadier appear as though race doesn't matter, he from the beginning assumes that Poitier is causing all the trouble, when in fact he isn't. Even the filming of this movie tried to make audiences assume that Poitier's character Miller was responsible for throwing the baseball at Dadier's head, but taking off from what someone said in class, it seems out of Miller's character to do something like that. The camera tries to focus on Miller right after the incident happens so we the audience label Miller the bad kid, just like Dadier did. When in fact , that type of behavior links directly to something that the student West would do. Even the reading points out that because of the way the filming jumps and cuts into scenes, it portrays Miller as both the "leader and the threat".
I found West character to be one of the most aggravating characters I have ever watched on screen. his attitude towards everything and everyone is pessimistic and filled with so much hatred. Not to mention every scene he appeared in he looked like he was high out of his mind. When the reading started to mention that West could be seen as homosexual, I didn't buy that for a second. There wasn't a instance where a psychologist could make a good argument that West desired Dadier. He represents himself well as filled with teen angst and nothing more than that. Maybe some father son issues at his homestead, but making the claim that West is gay, is stretching it. I'm still not sure if I liked this movie. I may have to watch it again to enjoy it. I honestly would just rather watch a different Poitier film like Guess Who's come to Dinner?